Rough Rugby

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31126, 1 August 1966, Page 10

Rough Rugby

Sir, —What a pity that the campaign for clean Rugby, which I entirely support, has to be mixed up with some tourists from the Northern Hemisphere.—Yours., etc. C. E. IVERSEN. July 29, 1966. Sir,—in reply to your many correspondents who condemn this so-called rough play, 1 must say that these objections are pure rubbish. Any person with knowledge of this fine game knows that it is a game of much bodily contact, and a little friction between opposing players is thus likely. From the first time that the Southland pack “hit” the might of the Lions there has been a nation-wide cry of “rough play.” New Zealanders by nature play a hard game of Rugby, and therefore this large and frightening list of injuries among visiting teams results purely from these players being either soft or over-trained. Mr O’Brien and the captain of the day, Telfer, were very clever in making their statements after a victory last Saturday; but surely it is obvious that such an outcry is only an excuse for a most unimpressive tour record to date.—Yours, etc., A.D.G. July 29, 1966.

Sir,—May I, as the writer of the letter quoted in Mr Hall’s article in your issue of July 28, make some further comments and give support to “Ham”? Players standing with outstretched arms a most unnatural position would be so performing for only one reason obvious to all and therefore “overt" and so illegal—also, I suggest, most unsportsmanlike. I am not a “disgruntled Pom” as one of your correspondents suggests, but was born in New Zealand some 70 years ago and I have strong objections to New Zealand representatives using unfair tactics and setting a bad example to young players.—Yours, etc., GRANDDAD. July 29, 1966. Sir, —As bad as ill-man-nered Rugby is the “holier-than-thou” attitude adopted by some overseas writers. Last week a pontifical lecture on maturity was handed out to us by the correspondent of “The Times,” who is travelling with the British Isles team. Visitors from the British Isles, said this august writer, are mystified at the savage warfare that sometimes develops in the grand game that came to us from Britain. The following extract from the London “Sunday Times” of March, 27, 1966. reporting the final match for the Durham County Cup between Durham City and Hartlepool Rovers, is therefore, interesting: “The most exciting moments came when a fracas developed between about half-a-dozen players. A bout of fisticuffs spread rapidly and the referee gave

a severe caution to two players and called the captains together.”—Yours, etc., MALICE TOWARDS NONE. July 29, 1966.